Dr. Kordie Reinhold, a dentist from Linden Hills Dentistry in Minneapolis, helps a patient during a 2016 medical mission with the Foundation for Philippine Medical Missions. Courtesy Suzette Foroozan

Father Victor Valencia of St. Patrick in Shieldsville went back his homeland of the Philippines on a medical mission in 2016 and looks forward to going back next year.

“I was so touched by what I saw,” Father Valencia said of his work with the Foundation for Philippine Medical Missions. “I was encouraged and inspired that so many of my brother and sister Americans share their talents [and] their gifts to the poor people in the Philippines.”

He will serve as chaplain on his home island of Negros in the Philippines Feb. 11-18, 2018, as nonprofit Negrenses del Oriental del Minnesota teams up with the Minnesota-based Foundation for Philippine Medical Missions. The mission will provide medical care to the people of Bais City in Negros at Bais Hospital.

Father Valencia will host a fundraiser at St. Patrick June 23 with a presentation about the mission, a meal and live music. Shieldsville is 9miles northwest of Faribault.

Patients wait for the medical mission to open for the day during the 2016 mission from the Foundation for Philipinne Medical Missions. Courtesy/Father Victor Valencia

Father Valencia said many Filipinos live in poverty and can’t afford private medical care. The government does not provide adequate medical care, he added.

“The thought of them [Filipinos] being consoled and liberated from sickness and giving them new hope, beginnings for them; it was so inspiring and encouraging that I thought of inviting them [the Foundation for Philippine Medical Missions] to my island,” Father Valencia said.

Growing up in the Philippines, Father Valencia said he had the fortune of good medical care since his father worked. He became familiar with the missions as a priest while serving in mission appeals before coming to Minnesota in the early 2000s to serve the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In addition to his role at St. Patrick, he also serves as pastor of Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery.

Father Valencia got involved in Negrenses del Oriental del Minnesota, which serves natives of the Negros islands who live in the Twin Cities. He ministers to the Catholics involved with the organization when possible.

The 2018 medical mission has 92 doctors and nurses signed up to serve along with 30 volunteers who will help with logistics such as food and transportation. In addition, the mission will send medical equipment to the island, which will enable medical practitioners to perform basic treatments, eye care, dental care and surgeries, such as correcting cleft palates. Father Valencia said the medical practitioners serve an average of 5,000 people.

People interested in the fundraiser may contact St. Patrick at 507-334-6002.